Padmaavat: Ranveer Singh locked himself in a room for 21 days, went to a ‘dark place’ to play Khilji

Ranveer Singh’s performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s controversial epic, Padmaavat, has been widely appreciated by critics and fans, even if the film itself has been met with tepid reactions. The star revealed his process of getting into the character of Alauddin Khilji, who has been portrayed as a maniac obsessed with Deepika Padukone’s Rani Padmavati.

Speaking with Indian Express, Ranveer said that he is pleased with the positive reaction his performance has got and said he went to ‘a dark place’ emotionally to play the character. “I took 21 days and locked myself up in my Goregaon house. I was completely isolated,” he said.

“I kind of isolated myself, marinated into the character because I can’t relate to Alaudin Khilji, I can’t relate to that level of manipulativeness, greed and ambition. I had to tap into dark experiences but his world view is not something I can relate to also,” he continued.

During this period, Ranveer said that he “kept working on (his) physique, voice and the gait.”

Ranveer credits Bhansali’s direction for the final result. “He is as much a creator of this character as I am. All credit to him. His is the most amount of direction I have taken from across these three films (Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ramleela, Bajirao Mastani and Padmaavat). He just knew what he wanted to do with Alaudin Khilji and was having so much fun doing it,” Ranveer said.

“I have had some life experiences that were quite dark. I can’t reveal too much because it is too personal but it is the stuff I have brushed under the carpet so to speak. Stuff that I have buried in my conscience, that I had to dig out in order to play this character. And it was not always pretty, which validates my apprehension. I knew how deep I had to go into this rabbit hole. I would have had to go into this dark, black space. This abyss that could be dangerous for me. And it was.”

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First Published: Jan 27, 2018 13:36 IST